Extraordinary Double Holy Synod Of Mt. Athos: It Is A Crime! (EN-GR)

THE ORIGINAL GREEK TEXT FOLLOWS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY DOUBLE HOLY SYNOD
OF MOUNT ATHOS

On the occasion of the filing of the legislative bill “Equality in civil marriage. Amendment of the Civil Code and other provisions” for a vote by the Hellenic Parliament, met in Karyes, today 8.2.2024, the 40 Abbots and Representatives of the Holy Monasteries of the Holy Land and due to the great and peculiar seriousness of the matter decided to address the present  announcement to every well-intentioned person and to support the struggle and the struggle of the Church for the protection of the core of human life.

The legislation, as provided for in the draft law, while it wants to ensure the principle of equality through the conclusion of “marriage” for persons of the same sex and even protection against discrimination, circumvents fundamental principles of human existence and kills the possibility of life and normal child’s development.

It is not the human family that is being dissolved, but the entire human existence.

How does life really work? Each one of us comes from one mother and one father, according to Christ’s response: “Do you not understand that He who made from the beginning male and female made them?” (Matthew 9, 4).

The institutionalization of “marriage” between persons of the same sex is a reversal of Christian marriage and the institution of the family and has been rejected by the entire church tradition and is dealt with by repentance, which is a change of lifestyle.

Also, the fetus is gestated for nine months and is born. The human newborn is the weakest newborn in creation. He can’t do anything.

If his mother does not take care of him, does not nurse him, he dies… God gives the responsibility to the parents to cooperate in his formation and thus become co-creators of God.

If by chance the newborn looks at the mother and wants to breastfeed, and there is someone else in her place, it confuses the information, it is distorted, it is dishonored.

The debt of respect to a new creature requires sacrifice so that it can develop normally, enjoy its life. There is no other way of uniting and developing man.

After nine months, he is born in a wider womb, which is the family environment, and begins another creation of the person, the child, within the family.

He knows the mother as the woman who nurses him and feeds him with her milk and takes care of him.

He knows the father as the man who loves him and takes care of him in his own way. He gets spiritual and physical strength from the mutual respect of his father and mother in order to move on to the second phase which passes into childhood, enters adolescence, moves freely within society and accepts the guidance of his culture and place.

God makes man to live, not to die; neither to die in his mother’s womb, nor in the womb of childhood, nor in the womb of history.

He participates in the miracle of life, in order to live and ascend to eternal life.

And this, with the grace of the Spirit, is done by the Church, through whom “compassion is renewed and established”.

And this is the final matrix, which shapes the human being and prepares him to be born in the space of the new state, in the “stages” of the beloved and desired freedom of the future age.

This is the purpose and reason for which God created the world and man.

Those who were freed and born beyond the womb of history, i.e. in the grace of eternal life, exist, pray and hold us all in life, and are the pole star where humanity is directed.

The attempted blasphemy, in the original meaning of the word, is a denial of the existence of man, a destruction of the foundations of the edifice of humanity.

Not only the gospel and the Greek society are affected. The universe is being deconstructed.

Whether you are a believer or an unbeliever, you will be born the same way. When you change these, in essence you decide on a slow but sure death of humanity.

When a man and a woman get married in the church, they receive the blessing of the Church and wishes for many children and art.

The true character of marriage is clearly revealed by the presence of Christ at the wedding of Cana, because “this great mystery is in Christ and in the Church” according to the apostle Paul.

This “marriage”, which is promoted today, leads to a dead end.

Injured, disabled creatures are being prepared. Respect human nature.

He who was born from his mother’s womb, regardless of race, language and faith, needs to be nursed by his mother.

These thoughts are not a figment of imagination, but are based on the Bible and the Apostles, on Tradition and the decisions of the Fathers, who established terms for the Orthodox faith and sacred rules, which determine the boundaries within which all its members must move.

In particular, the apostle Paul is clear, when he emphasizes emphatically: “Have you not seen that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor lewds, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor revelers, nor drunkards, nor revelers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 6, 9-10).

At the same time, the Church continues its mission, shepherds and heals, so that all the faithful live in communion with Christ and their brothers, to be distinguished by selfless love and philanthropy.

God loves all of us, righteous and unrighteous, saints and sinners. This is what the Church does, without excluding anyone, as this is evident throughout the history of church life and human weaknesses.

Love reigns. It is a shame for those who make these bills and consider this evolution to be natural.

We encourage and praise those who prefer the voice of conscience against the haphazard party discipline and we are fellow travelers in their struggle.

However, there is the health of the life of the human body that repels all these elements that try to alter the true existence of man.

There is One who directs everything. He who made the world and man, to live in eternity and to exist, He exists and protects us, is presented as weak and non-existent.

All those who want to change their lives will bump into Him.

Perhaps they do not realize that all this haste and insistence on passing the bill shows weakness and is at the expense of the people they are supposed to want to protect.

Only out of respect for these people do we emphatically express and emphasize the principles of life.

It is a big crime. They attack human nature, because in essence they stop the normal development and unrecognized, they destroy the person.

But there is the One who created everything out of love and wisdom and bypasses our weaknesses and leads everything to a good end.

Respondents in the Extraordinary Double Holy Assembly Representatives and Leaders of the Twenty Holy and Blessed Monasteries of the Holy Land of Athos.

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ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ
ΕΚΤΑΚΤΟΥ ΔΙΠΛΗΣ ΙΕΡΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΕΩΣ
ΑΓΙΟΥ ΟΡΟΥΣ ΑΘΩ

Μὲ ἀφορμὴ τὴν κατάθεση τοῦ νομοσχεδίου «Ἰσότητα στὸν πολιτικὸ γάμο. Τροποποίηση τοῦ Ἀστικοῦ κώδικα καὶ ἄλλες διατάξεις» γιὰ ψήφιση ἀπὸ τὴν Ἑλληνικὴ Βουλὴ, συνῆλθαν στὶς Καρυές, σήμερα 8.2.2024, οἱ 40 Καθηγούμενοι καὶ Ἀντιπρόσωποι τῶν Ἱερῶν Μονῶν τοῦ Ἁγίου Ὄρους καὶ λόγῳ τῆς μείζονος καὶ ἰδιαζούσης σοβαρότητος τοῦ θέματος ἀποφάσισαν νὰ ἀπευθυνθοῦν μὲ τὴν παροῦσα ἀνακοίνωση σὲ κάθε καλοπροαίρετο ἄνθρωπο καὶ νὰ συμπαρασταθοῦν στὴν ἀγωνία καὶ τὸν ἀγώνα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας γιὰ τὴν προστασία τοῦ πυρήνα τῆς ἀνθρώπινης ζωῆς.

Τὸ νομοθέτημα, ὅπως προβλέπει τὸ σχέδιο νόμου, ἐνῶ θέλει νὰ διασφαλίσει τὴν ἀρχὴ τῆς ἰσότητος μέσῳ τῆς σύναψης «γάμου» σὲ πρόσωπα τοῦ ἰδίου φύλου καὶ ἀκόμη τὴν προστασία ἀπὸ διακρίσεις, καταστρατηγεῖ θεμελιώδεις ἀρχὲς τῆς ἀνθρώπινης ὑπάρξεως καὶ θανατώνει τὴν δυνατότητα τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τῆς φυσιολογικῆς ἀναπτύξεως τοῦ παιδιοῦ.

Διαλύεται ὄχι ἡ ἀνθρώπινη οἰκογένεια, ἀλλὰ ὁλόκληρη ἡ ἀνθρώπινη ὕπαρξη.

Ἀλήθεια πῶς λειτουργεῖ ἡ ζωή; Ὁ καθένας μας προέρχεται ἀπὸ μία μητέρα καὶ ἕνα πατέρα, σύμφωνα καὶ μὲ τὴν ἀπόκριση τοῦ Χριστοῦ: «οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε ὅτι ὁ ποιήσας ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς;» (Ματθ. 9, 4).

Ἡ θεσμοθέτηση «γάμου» μεταξὺ προσώπων τοῦ ἰδίου φύλου εἶναι ἀνατροπὴ τοῦ χριστιανικοῦ γάμου καὶ τοῦ θεσμοῦ τῆς οἰκογένειας καὶ ἔχει ἀπορριφθεῖ ἀπὸ τὴν σύνολη ἐκκλησιαστικὴ παράδοση καὶ ἀντιμετωπίζεται μὲ τὴν μετάνοια, ἡ ὁποία εἶναι ἀλλαγὴ τρόπου ζωῆς.

Ἐπίσης, τὸ ἔμβρυο κυοφορεῖται ἐννέα μῆνες καὶ γεννιέται. Τὸ νεογνὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἶναι τὸ πιὸ ἀσθενὲς νεογέννητο τῆς κτίσεως. Δὲν μπορεῖ νὰ κάνει τίποτε.

Ἐὰν δὲν τὸ φροντίσει ἡ μάνα του, δὲν τὸ θηλάσει, πέθανε… Ὁ Θεὸς δίνει τὴν εὐθύνη στοὺς γεννήτορες νὰ συμπράξουν στὴν διαμόρφωσή του καὶ νὰ γίνουν μὲ αὐτὸ τὸν τρόπο συνδημιουργοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Ἐὰν τυχὸν τὸ νεογέννητο στρέψει τὸ βλέμμα πρὸς τὴν μητέρα καὶ θέλει θηλασμό, καὶ στὴν θέση της βρίσκεται κάποιος ἄλλος, συγχέει τὶς πληροφορίες, παραμορφώνεται, ἀτιμάζεται.

Τὸ χρέος σεβασμοῦ σὲ ἕνα νέο πλάσμα ἀπαιτεῖ θυσία γιὰ νὰ μπορέσει νὰ ἀναπτυχθεῖ φυσιολογικά, νὰ χαρεῖ τὴν ζωή του. Δὲν ὑπάρχει ἄλλος τρόπος ἑνώσεως καὶ ἀναπτύξεως τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

Μετὰ ἀπὸ ἐννέα μῆνες γεννιέται σὲ μία εὐρύτερη μήτρα, ποὺ εἶναι τὸ οἰκογενειακὸ περιβάλλον, καὶ ἀρχίζει μία ἄλλη πλάση τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τοῦ παιδιοῦ, μέσα στὴν οἰκογένεια.

Γνωρίζει τὴν μητέρα σὰν τὴν γυναῖκα ποὺ τὸ θηλάζει καὶ τὸ τρέφει μὲ τὸ γάλα της καὶ τὸ περιποιεῖται.

Γνωρίζει τὸν πατέρα σὰν τὸν ἄνδρα ποὺ τὸ ἀγαπᾶ καὶ τὸ φροντίζει μὲ τὸν τρόπο του. Παίρνει δύναμη πνευματικὴ καὶ σωματικὴ ἀπὸ τὸν ἀμοιβαῖο σεβασμὸ τοῦ πατέρα καὶ τῆς μητέρας γιὰ νὰ προχωρήσει στὴν δεύτερη φάση ποὺ περνᾶ στὴν παιδικὴ ἡλικία, πάει στὴν ἐφηβική, προχωρεῖ ἐλεύθερο μέσα στὴν κοινωνία καὶ δέχεται τὴν ἀγωγὴ τοῦ πολιτισμοῦ καὶ τοῦ τόπου του.

Ὁ Θεὸς φτιάχνει τὸν ἄνθρωπο γιὰ νὰ ζήσει, ὄχι γιὰ νὰ πεθάνει∙ οὔτε νὰ πεθάνει στὴν μήτρα τῆς μητέρας του, οὔτε στὴν μητρα τῆς παιδικῆς ἡλικίας, οὔτε στὴν μήτρα τῆς ἱστορίας.

Συμμετέχει στὸ θαῦμα τῆς ζωῆς, γιὰ νὰ ζήσει καὶ νὰ ἀναληφθεῖ στὴν αἰώνια ζωή.

Κι αὐτό, μὲ τὴν χάρη τοῦ Πνεύματος τὸ κάνει ἡ Ἐκκλησία, δι’ ἧς «νεουργεῖται καὶ θεουργεῖται ἡ σύμπασα».

Κι αὐτὴ ἀποτελεῖ τὴν τελικὴ μήτρα, ἡ ὁποία πλάθει τὸν ἄνθρωπο καὶ τὸν ἑτοιμάζει νὰ γεννηθεῖ στὸν χῶρο τῆς καινῆς πολιτείας, στὰ «σκηνώματα» τὰ ἀγαπητὰ καὶ ποθούμενα τῆς ἐλευθερίας τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος.

Αὐτὸς εἶναι ὁ σκοπὸς καὶ ὁ λόγος, γιὰ τὸν ὁποῖο ὁ Θεὸς δημιούργησε τὸν κόσμο καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπο.

Αὐτοὶ ποὺ ἀπελευθερώθηκαν καὶ γεννήθηκαν πέρα ἀπὸ τὴν μήτρα τῆς ἱστορίας, δηλαδὴ στὴν χάρη τῆς αἰώνιας ζωῆς, ὑπάρχουν, προσεύχονται καὶ μᾶς συγκρατοῦν ὅλους στὴν ζωή, καὶ ἀποτελοῦν τὸν πολικὸ ἀστέρα, ὅπου κατευθύνεται ἡ ἀνθρωπότης.

Ἡ ἐπιχειρούμενη ὕβρις, μὲ τὴν ἀρχικὴ ἔννοια τῆς λέξεως, ἀποτελεῖ ἄρνηση τῆς ὑπάρξεως τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἀποσάθρωση στὰ θεμέλια τοῦ οἰκοδομήματος τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος.

Δὲν θίγεται μόνο τὸ εὐαγγέλιο καὶ ἡ ἑλληνικὴ κοινωνία. Ἀποδομεῖται τὸ σύμπαν.

Εἴτε εἶσαι πιστὸς εἴτε ἄπιστος, θὰ γεννηθεῖς μὲ τὸν ἴδιο τρόπο. Ὅταν αὐτὰ τὰ ἀλλοιώνεις, στὴν οὐσία ἀποφασίζεις ἕνα ἀργὸ ἀλλὰ σίγουρο θάνατο τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος.

Ὅταν παντρεύονται στὴν ἐκκλησία, ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκα, παίρνουν τὴν εὐλογία τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ εὐχὲς γιὰ πολυτεκνία καὶ καλλιτεκνία.

Ὁ ἀληθινὸς χαρακτήρας τοῦ γάμου φανερώνεται μὲ ἐνάργεια μὲ τὴν παρουσία τοῦ Χριστοῦ στὸν γάμο τῆς Κανᾶ, διότι «τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστίν, εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν» κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολο Παῦλο.

Αὐτὸς ὁ «γάμος», ποὺ προωθεῖται σήμερα, ὁδηγεῖ στὸ ἀδιέξοδο.

Ἑτοιμάζονται πλάσματα τραυματισμένα, ἀνάπηρα. Σεβαστεῖτε τὴν φύση τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

Αὐτὸ ποὺ γεννήθηκε ἀπὸ τὴν μήτρα τῆς μητέρας του, ἀνεξάρτητα φυλῆς, γλώσσας καὶ πίστεως, ἔχει ἀνάγκη νὰ τὸ θηλάσει ἡ μητέρα του.

Οἱ σκέψεις αὐτὲς δὲν εἶναι ἀποκύημα φαντασίας, ἀλλὰ στηρίζονται στὴν Γραφὴ καὶ τοὺς Ἀποστόλους, στὴν Παράδοση καὶ τὶς ἀποφάσεις τῶν Πατέρων, οἱ ὁποῖοι θέσπισαν ὅρους γιὰ τὴν ὀρθόδοξη πίστη καὶ ἱεροὺς κανόνες, ποὺ καθορίζουν τὰ ὅρια μέσα στὰ ὁποῖα πρέπει νὰ κινοῦνται ὅλα τὰ μέλη της.

Ἰδιαίτερα ὁ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος εἶναι σαφής, ὅταν τονίζει ἐμφατικά: «ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἄδικοι βασιλείαν Θεοῦ οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν; μὴ πλανᾶσθε∙ οὔτε πόρνοι οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι οὔτε μοιχοὶ οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται οὔτε κλέπται οὔτε πλεονέκται οὔτε μέθυσοι, οὐ λοίδοροι, οὐχ ἅρπαγες βασιλείαν Θεοῦ κληρονομήσουσιν» (Α΄ Κορ. 6, 9-10).

Ταυτόχρονα ἡ Ἐκκλησία συνεχίζει τὴν ἀποστολή της, ποιμαίνει καὶ θεραπεύει, ὥστε ὅλοι οἱ πιστοὶ νὰ ζοῦν σὲ κοινωνία μὲ τὸν Χριστὸ καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφούς τους, νὰ τοὺς διακρίνει ἡ ἀνιδιοτελὴς ἀγάπη καὶ φιλαδελφία.

Ὁ Θεὸς ἀγαπᾶ ὅλους μας, δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους, ἁγίους καὶ ἁμαρτωλούς. Αὐτὸ κάνει καὶ ἡ Ἐκκλησία, χωρὶς νὰ ἀποκλείει κανέναν, ὅπως αὐτὸ φανερώνεται μέσα σὲ ὅλη τὴν ἱστορία τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ζωῆς καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπινων ἀδυναμιῶν.

Ἡ Ἀγάπη βασιλεύει. Εἶναι ντροπὴ γι’ αὐτοὺς ποὺ κάνουν αὐτὰ τὰ νομοσχέδια καὶ θεωροῦν φυσικὴ αὐτὴ τὴν ἐξέλιξη.

Ἐνθαρρύνουμε καὶ ἐπαινοῦμε ὅσους προκρίνουν τὴν φωνὴ τῆς συνειδήσεως ἔναντι τῆς τυχὸν κομματικῆς πειθαρχίας καὶ εἴμαστε συνοδοιπόροι εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα τους.

Ὡστόσο, ὑπάρχει ἡ ὑγεία τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ποὺ ἀποβάλλει ὅλα αὐτὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τὰ ὁποῖα ἐπιχειροῦν νὰ ἀλλοιώσουν τὴν ἀληθινὴ ὕπαρξη τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

Ὑπάρχει Ἐκεῖνος ποὺ διευθύνει τὰ πάντα. Αὐτὸς ποὺ ἔκανε τὸν κόσμο καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπο, γιὰ νὰ ζήσει στὴν αἰωνιότητα καὶ νὰ ὑπάρχει, Αὐτὸς ὑπάρχει καὶ μᾶς προστατεύει, παρουσιάζεται σὰν ἀδύνατος καὶ ἀνύπαρκτος.

Σὲ Αὐτὸν θὰ προσκρούσουν ὅλοι αὐτοὶ ποὺ θέλουν νὰ ἀλλοιώσουν τὴν ζωή.

Ἴσως νὰ μὴν ἀντιλαμβάνονται ὅτι ὅλη αὐτὴ ἡ βιασύνη καὶ ἡ ἐπιμονὴ γιὰ τὴν ψήφιση τοῦ νομοσχεδίου φανερώνει ἀδυναμία καὶ εἶναι εἰς βάρος τῶν ἀνθρώπων αὐτῶν ποὺ ὑποτίθεται ὅτι θέλουν νὰ προστατεύσουν.

Μόνο ἀπὸ σεβασμὸ σὲ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐκφράζουμε καὶ τονίζουμε μὲ τρόπο ἐμφατικὸ τὶς ἀρχὲς τῆς ζωῆς.

Εἶναι μεγάλο τὸ ἔγκλημα. Ἀσελγοῦν στὴν ἀνθρώπινη φύση, διότι στὴν οὐσία σταματοῦν τὴν φυσιολογικὴ ἀνάπτυξη καὶ ἀνεπίγνωστα, καταστρέφουν τὸν ἄνθρωπο.

Ἀλλὰ ὑπάρχει Αὐτὸς ποὺ δημιούργησε τὰ πάντα ἀπὸ ἀγάπη καὶ σοφία καὶ παρακάμπτει τι ἀδυναμίες μας καὶ ὁδηγεῖ τὰ πάντα εἰς ἀγαθὸν τέλος.

Ἅπαντες οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἐκτάκτῳ Διπλῇ Ἱερᾷ Συνάξει Ἀντιπρόσωποι καὶ Προϊστάμενοι
τῶν εἴκοσιν Ἱερῶν καὶ Εὐαγῶν Μονῶν τοῦ Ἁγίου Ὄρους Ἄθω.